Abramson barred from running again

The Commission on Judicial Misconduct found that Gilbert Abramson, a judge in Saratoga County Family Court, repeatedly failed to notify defendants of their right to legal representation and should be removed from office. The order means he can never be a judge again.

“In four separate cases, litigants served for periods ranging from 21 days to 268 days in jail after the judge failed to comply with the appropriate constitutional and statutory mandates,” the commission says in a press release. “The record in its totality demonstrates [Judge Abramson’s] profound disregard for the rule of law and his continuing insensitivity to the overriding importance of protecting the rights of litigants despite the Commission’s cautionary warning and despite his assurances that he ‘dramatically changed’ his practices after that warning.”

The judge compounded this misconduct by making “egregious and inexcusable” comments of a sexual nature on two separate occasions to a litigant in Saratoga County Family Treatment Court. “His gratuitous remarks, which were prompted by an innocuous caricature on a litigant’s T-shirt, were ribald and replete with sexual innuendo,” the Commission said. By making these comments about the “benign and non-sexual” image, Judge Abramson violated his obligation to be the exemplar of dignity and decorum in the courtroom and to treat those who appear in the court with courtesy and respect.

The determination is above. The sexual comments start on the bottom of page 14.